CMFRI Newsletter No.147 October-December 2015

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Inaugural function of the 5^thInternational Symposium on Cage Aquaculture in Asia held at Kochi

see page 3

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Published by

Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan Director

ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute Post Box No. 1603, Ernakulam North P.O.

Kochi - 682 018, Kerala, India Telephone: 0484-2394867 Fax: 91-484-2394909 E-mail: director@cmfri.org.in Website: www.cmfri.org.in

A. Gopalakrishnan Director

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he potential to increase marine fish production in India through sea farming is considerable although cage aquaculture in the country is still only in its early development stage. ICAR-CMFRI pioneered research in the open sea cage culture in India as well as achieved the first breakthrough in breeding and seed production of several commercially important marine food fishes such as Cobia and Silver Pompano. R & D efforts are underway to achieve similar success in other groups such as groupers and Red snapper in the coming years. In this context, the 5^th International Symposium on Cage Aquaculture in Asia hosted by the Institute witnessed many scientific deliberations which will be helpful in developing the necessary technologies. It has also come out with several recommendations that will surely aid the process of a Blue Revolution in India. The efforts of all those who strived to make the event a striking success deserve compliments. During the period, the planning for National Marine Fisheries Census 2016 with support from the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHD & F) was completed and the database compiled in specially designed forms on the socio-economic, infrastructure and other associated data from the coastal fishing villages and fishermen will be digitized. This will be invaluable during planning fisheries development schemes or policies for the country.

We could also successfully collate stakeholders' opinion from various regions to aid the formulation of the new National Marine Fisheries Policy by the Union Government . As we enter the new year 2016, it is gladdening to note that the Puri Field Centre of ICAR-CMFRI has been opened, which will certainly make all efforts to fulfill the needs of marine fishermen of the region through their research out-reach and training programs. As the new year unfolds, it is time to approach our work with renewed vigour and dedication and I wish everyone a very successful New Year 2016.

About CMFRI

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, is a premier research Institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, devoted to research and training in marine fisheries and mariculture.

CMFRI has three Regional Centres viz., Mandapam Camp, Visakhapatnam and Veraval and seven Research Centres located along the Indian coastline, catering to the marine fishery policy needs of all maritime states of the country.

Editor Dr. U. Ganga

Editorial Board Dr. Rekha J. Nair Dr. R. Jeyabaskaran Dr. Kajal Chakraborty Shri. D. Linga Prabu Smt. P. Geetha Shri. Arun Surendran Shri. P. R. Abhilash

D ^irector s ^peaks

CMFRI Hosts the 5th International Symposium on Cage Aquaculture in Asia (CAA5) at Kochi 3 Research Highlights 14

Training/Extension 17

Delegates/Visitors 19

Awards 19

Swachh Bharat 21

Official Language Implementation 21 KVK (Ernakulam) News 22 Programme Participations 23 Human Resources Development 24

Personnel 26

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ICAR-CMFRI hosts the 5 ^th International

Symposium on Cage Aquaculture in Asia (CAA5)

I

CAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute and the Indian Branch of the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS) hosted the 5^th International Symposium on Cage Aquaculture in Asia (CAA5) in Kochi, India during 25-28^th November 2015. The inaugural function held on 25^th November 2015 began with a welcome address by Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Convener, CAA5 and Director, ICAR- CMFRI. Invitees and delegates from India,

3 Cadalmin : CMFRI Newsletter No. 147

Release of CAA5 Souvenir (from L-R) Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Dr. Alice Joan Ferrer, Dr. J. K. Jena, Dr. S. Ayyappan, Dr. Derek Staples, Prof. (Dr.) Mohan Joseph Modayil and Dr. Mridula Rajesh

Norway, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Korea and Philippines were present on the occasion. He acknowledged the Asian Fisheries Society for providing the opportunity to host this prestigious event at Kochi which included a symposium theme talk, keynote address for each session and lead talks by eminent researchers and experts cage aquaculture. 252 participants from 10 countries (Norway, UK, Australia, South

Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Iran, China) were present besides Indian delegates. One symposium theme lecture, 6 keynote address, 17 lead talks, 141 abstracts, 42 oral and 75 poster presentations were made. An exhibition of cage culture technology, products and services with 21 exhibitors, had stalls displaying their products / services. Presentations in 6 different sessions pertaining to recent advances and research activities in the field of cage aquaculture were made.

From over 200 submissions received, the best were summarized in the Book of Abstracts which was also released during the function. Convener CAA5 expressed his hope that the Symposium would meet the objectives and initiatives of ICAR, MPEDA, SAUs and NGOs in contributing to aquaculture growth in India and that it would provide a platform for the country to take up cage culture in a sustainable manner.

Felicitatory messages received from the Hon’ble President of India, Shri.

Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President, Shri Mohammed Hameed Ansari, Union Welcome Address by the Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Convener CAA5, Director, ICAR-CMFRI

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Agriculture Minister, Shri. Radha Mohan Singh, Hon. Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri.

Oommen Chandy and the President, Asian Fisheries Society, Prof. Shuolin Huang who flagged the importance of the symposium were also read out.

After the Welcome address, Dr. Alice Joan Ferrer, Vice President, Asian Fisheries Society, Malaysia spoke briefly on the activities of AFS past. A two minutes silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed souls of Dr. S. Z. Qasim, Honorary Life Member AFS, Prof. H. P.

C. Shetty, Founder Chairman, AFSIB and past AFS Councillor and Mr. J. V. H.

Dixitulu, former Managing Editor of Fishing Chimes.

In his Presidential address, Dr. J. K.

Jena, Chairman, AFSIB emphasized the need for governmental policies to support cage farming in open waters. He said that the slogan at present was not only fish for all for today and tomorrow but also forever. He said that India could

take cues from countries such as Norway, Chile and China.

Prof. (Dr.) Mohan Joseph Modayil, Former Member, ASRB and Member Council Advisory Group (CAG), AFS, was the Guest of Honour for the function. He expressed happiness at the response shown by the participants to CAA5 and congratulated efforts to make this conference successful when cage aquaculture is still in its infancy in India.

Highlighting the prospects of cage culture to a developing country like India where fish is not only an item of food but also of employment opportunities he pointed out that Asia is now emerging as a superpower in aquaculture. He flagged the issues of environmental safety, entrepreneurship, consumer health and also highlighted prospects of Asian countries to gain from cage aquaculture.

He emphasized that there is no need for any competition between countries and what is rather needed is sharing of skills, knowledge and expertise with concerted

efforts of Asian countries to take ecofriendly cage culture forward.

Dr. Derek Staples, Immediate Past President, AFS, in his address stressed that the fisheries society in Asia needs to undergo a major reform with respect to connectivity among Asian countries.

The Book of Abstracts and Souvenir of the Symposium were released by the Chief Guest Dr. S. Ayyappan. In his Inaugural address he opined that it was apt that CAA5 was held in Kochi which may be rightly called the fisheries capital of India. He recounted his first experiments in freshwater cage culture along with Dr. Kumaraiah, way back in 1982. He mentioned that the food basket is getting diversified from cereals to meat to fish and the biggest challenge now is Climate Change which ICAR- CMFRI is also addressing. Highlighting the achievements made by ICAR-CMFRI in cage culture at Veraval, Karwar, Mandapam and Kochi he mentioned that present day emphasis is on environment

Address by Guest of Honour Prof. (Dr.) Mohan Joseph Modayil,

CAG, AFS, Malaysia

Presidential address by Dr. J. K. Jena, Chairman, AFSIB and DDG (Fisheries), ICAR Address by the Chief Guest

Dr. S. Ayyappan, Secretary, DARE & DG, ICAR

Address by Dr. Alice Joan Ferrer Address by Dr. Derek Staples, Immediate Past President, AFS

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friendly and sustainable practices in capture fisheries as well as aquaculture.

He expressed hope that the symposium would provide an opportunity for exchange of ideas between India and Norway who are the leaders in cage culture. Today, the Indian youth is looking forward to challenging ideas and opportunities and cage culture will be such an opportunity he added. He further emphasized that multiple use of water should be resorted to and complimented the efforts of the youngsters from Jharkhand on their success in cage farming in the reservoirs. He also said that a strong combination of seed availability, feed, skill and will were the need of the hour for further development of cage aquaculture in India. Stressing that cage culture can provide opportunity for a paradigm shift for production of food from land to water bodies, Dr. Ayyappan concluded his address by wishing the delegates fruitful deliberations.

The AFSIB R & D Innovation Awards were presented to experts who had significantly contributed for the development of cage culture in India. This included Mr. Sanjay V. Raut, President (Technical & New Businesses), Garware- Wall Ropes Limited, Pune, Dr. Thampi Samraj, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture, MPEDA, Kochi, Prof. (Dr.) Mohan Joseph Modayil, Former Member, ASRB and Former Director, ICAR-CMFRI, Dr. G. Syda Rao, Former Director, ICAR-CMFRI, Dr. G.

Gopakumar, Emeritus Scientist, ICAR- CMFRI and Dr. P. Kumaraiah, former Principal Scientist, ICAR-CIFA. Dr.

Mridula Rajesh, Treasurer, AFSIB proposed the vote of thanks.

Distinguished guests at the symposium included Dr. V. V. Sugunan and Dr. Madan Mohan (Former ADGs (Fisheries), ICAR), Dr. P. S. B. R. James, Dr. V. N. Pillai (Former Directors, CMFRI), Dr. S. D. Tripathi (Former

Keynote address by Mr. Trond Severinsen (Norway) in Session I on Marine Production Systems

Lead lecture by Dr. Asmund Bjordal (Director, Institute of Marine Research, Norway)

in Session III

Lead lecture by Dr. Ketut Sugama (Indonesia) in Session III on Breeding and Seed Production Keynote address by Prof. Trevor Platt in Session I

on Marine Production Systems Director, ICAR-CIFE). Dr. S. W. A Naqvi,

Director, CSIR-NIO, Goa; Dr. P.

Ravishankar, Director, ICAR-CIFT, Dr. K.

K. Vijayan, Director, ICAR-CIBA, Chennai and Dr. P. Jayasankar, Director, ICAR-CIFA, Bhubaneswar besides many other eminent personalities in the field of fisheries and aquaculture.

The Symposium Theme lecture

“Greening the Asian Cage Aquaculture Construct” was delivered by Prof. (Dr.) Mohan Joseph Modayil. The keynote speakers were Mr. Trond Severinsen (Norway) (Marine Production Systems), Dr. V. V. Sugunan (Inland Production Systems), Dr. G. Gopakumar (Breeding and Seed Production), Dr. P E Vijay Anand, USSC (Nutrition and Feed), Dr.

Brit Hjeltnes, (Norway) (Health and Environment Management), and Dr.

Marius Dalen, (Norway) (Economics, Livelihood and Policies). All sessions had lead talks by eminent speakers and scientists from different organisations in India and abroad. They were Dr. Niels Svennevig (Vietnam), Dr. Clive Jones (Australia), Dr. K. G. Padmakumar (India), Dr. A. K. Das (India), Mr. Uttam Kumar Subuddhi, IFS (India), Dr. Asmund Bjordal, Director, IMR (Norway), Dr.

Ketut Sugama (Indonesia), Dr. Kristoffer Lunde, EWOS (Norway), Prof. Trevor Platt (Plymouth, presently Jawaharlal Nehru Science Fellow, India), Dr. K. K.

Vijayan, Director, ICAR-CIBA (India), Dr.

Indrani Karunasagar (India), Dr.

Murwantoko (Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture (Indonesia), Dr. P Ravichandran, Member Secretary, Coastal Aquaculture Authority, (India), Mr. Suresh Kumar, DGM, NABARD, (India) and Mr. Jacob Joseph, Asst.

Professor, NUALS, (India). There were oral and poster presentation in each session by scientists and students from different organisations in India and abroad.The Exhibition and Trade show inaugurated by Dr. Derek Staples, AFS (Malaysia) had 22 stalls which included

Delgates at the Symposium

State and Central Government Agencies, ICAR institutes, Fisheries Universities, Entrepreneurs, Banks and NGOs.

The Plenary and valedictory session of CAA5 was held on 27^th November, 2015. After the welcome address by Dr.

B. Shamasunder, Secretary AFSIB, Dr. S.

D. Tripathi, Dr. K. K. Philipose, Coordinator, All India Network Project

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Lead lecture by Dr. Kristoffer Lunde (Norway) in Session IV on Nutrition and Feed

Keynote address by Dr. Brit Hjeltnes (Norway) in Session V on Health and Environment Management

Keynote address by Dr. Marius Dalen (Norway) in session VI on Economics, Livelihood and Policies

Presentation of AFSIB R&D Innovation Award to M/s. Garware Wall Ropes Ltd.

Presentation of AFSIB R&D Innovation Award to Prof. Dr. Mohan Joseph Modayil

Presentation of AFSIB R&D Innovation Award to Dr. G. Gopakumar

Presentation of AFSIB R&D Innovation Award to Dr. P. Kumaraiah

Presentation of Award to Mr. V. Dinakaran, Chairman,

MATSYAFED (Mariculture), Dr. Imelda Joseph, Head in

Charge, Mariculture Division, ICAR- CMFRI and Dr. Derek Staples, expressed their views about the Symposium and appreciated the success of the symposium. Dr. J. K. Jena, President, AFSIB presented the concluding remarks and the recommendations of the symposium. Prof. (Dr.) Mohan Joseph Modayil announced the awards for the best three papers and posters.

MATSYAFED Kerala was presented with an award in recognition of their support to the cage culture programmes in the country by supplying the nets at nominal rates to the fishers. Mr. V. Dinakaran, Chairman, MATSYAFED and Ex-MLA, on receiving the award, stated that the organization will continue supporting ICAR-CMFRI in their cage culture endeavours. The program concluded with the vote of thanks by Dr. A.

Gopalakrishnan, Director, ICAR-CMFRI and Convener, CAA5.

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Recommendations of CAA5

Considering the emerging importance of cage aquaculture on the economy and life of the Asian region, the CAA5 recommends

1. A precautionary development agenda for environment and resource friendly, sustainable and inclusive way forward for Asian countries by sharing information and experiences for the benefit of all.

2. Collective efforts between Asian countries to foster a green approach by following best management practices for providing safe fish.

3. Development of breeding and grow-out technologies of indigenous candidate species, specific to each country, with emphasis on diversification in both inland and marine cage aquaculture.

4. Greater focused research attention on feed development, with emphasis on reduced use of fish meal and fish oil, and feed management approach for prospective candidate species for cage aquaculture in the Asian region.

5. Development and implementation of country specific disease surveillance and management plans for addressing existing diseases and preventing future outbreaks.

6. A greater thrust on R & D on multispecies farming; involving fish, molluscs, seaweeds and scavengers for utilization of multi-trophic food niches for preventing environmental deterioration.

7. Development and adoption of National policies for each country, taking into consideration harmonized approaches delineating maximum biomass production for sites in inland and marine water bodies, so as to prevent adverse impacts on the aquatic environment of neighbouring countries.

8. Mapping of sites for cage aquaculture, taking into consideration local area development plans, environmental safeguards and user rights; further, notifying and demarcating culture sites must receive attention in each country so as to promote harmonious development.

9. Facilitation of private-public participation in commercial cage farming to attract increased investment and entrepreneurial development.

10. Sharing of knowledge and skill for development of cage aquaculture through collaborative programmes in research, training and human resource development.

Award for best paper presentation to Dr. G. Grinson and Team

Award for best paper presentation to Dr. M. K. Anil and Team

Award for best poster presentation to Dr. P. A. Vikas and Team Award for best poster presentation to

Dr. K. Madhu and Team Inauguration of Trade Show by Dr. Derek Staples Visit to CMFRI stall by Dr. S. Ayyappan, DG, ICAR

CAA5 Core Committee from ICAR-CMFRI with Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Convener, CAA5.

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Delegates at the National Marine Biodviersity Museum, ICAR-CMFRI

Delegates at the Dinner hosted at CMFRI as part of CAA5

Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Director with the invited speakers and the AFS and

AFSIB team at ICAR-CMFRI

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Host Institute of ICAR-CMFRI Cadalmin : CMFRI Newsletter No. 147 9

Session in progress Dr. B. Shamasundar, Secretary AFSIB speaks at Valedictory function

View of the Audience

Logo and Website Team : Shri. P. R. Abhilash, Shri. K. M. David and Shri. Manu V. K.

Glimpses of the Cultural Evening

‘Cage Aquaculture Aiming Sky High’ - Symposium Theme Painting by Shri. K. M. David Dr. Asmund Bjordal presents memento to Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan during

the Valedictory Function

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highlighted the opportunities to take up marine fisheries activities in Odisha to new heights through collaboration in cage farming, coastal aquaculture and seaweed farming with the active technical backing from this centre. Some of the fish farmers present expressed their difficulties in

Puri Field Centre of ICAR-CMFRI inaugurated

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he Office cum Research Laboratory of Puri Field Centre of ICAR-CMFRI, was formally inaugurated on 7^th December, 2015 by Dr. A.

Gopalakrishnan, Director in the presence of distinguished officials from Odisha State Fisheries Department including Mr. P.

Krishna Mohan, IFS, Director of Fisheries, Mr. Basant Dash, Deputy Director, (Marine Fisheries), Mrs. Urbashi Behera, Additional Director of Fisheries and Mr.

Shashi Kanta Mishra, Asst. Engineer, CPWD, Odisha. In her welcome address, Dr. (Mrs.) Reeta Jayasankar, Scientist-in- charge, Puri Field Centre thanked Mr.

Satyabrata Sahoo, IAS, former Commissioner cum Secretary, Animal Resource Development Department (Fisheries), and Mr. Bishnupada Sethi, IAS for providing all support during setting up of the centre. Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan appreciated the cooperation between the State and Central Fisheries Departments to address the issues of stake holders and

getting seed from Chennai and Mandapam for crab and finfish farming and requested for setting up such hatcheries in Odisha also. After the formal inauguration, the dignitaries visited the laboratory and hatchery facilities developed at the Centre.

Director with dignitaries and staff of Puri Field Centre

Participants of the Workshop on "Marine Fisheries Census-2016"

at Mumbai RC of CMFRI

Marine Fisheries Census 2016

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he National Marine Fisheries Census- 2016 in all the maritime states and two Union Territories of the country is to be held under the leadership of ICAR- CMFRI. The Island regions of Andaman

& Nicobar and Lakshadweep will be enumerated under the supervision of Fishery Survey of India. The exercise includes collecting information about marine fishermen families, fishing crafts and gears, social and educational profile and demographic features of marine fishing villages. The previous census was conducted in 2010. The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHDF) of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India is funding the exercise which is coordinated

by the Institute. Training programmes for supervisors and prospective enumerators were conducted.

Fishery Resources Assessment Division (FRAD) conducted Pre-Census Workshops at the various Regional/

Research centres of the Institute. At the Visakhapatnam Regional centre it was held on 19^th-20^th November, 2015. Dr. Mini KG, Senior Scientist, Dr. Reeta Jayasankar, Scientist-in-charge, Puri FC of ICAR- CMFRI and Mr. Vivekanand Bharti, Scientist conducted the training. Dr.

Grinson George, Senior Scientist, Shri Wilson T Mathew, Scientist and Shri. D.

Pugazhendi, Technical Officer conducted workshop at Chennai Research Centre

for training of field, district and state level supervisors of Tamil Nadu, south Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry U.T. on 17^th and 18^th November 2015. Workshop for Kerala and Mahe was held on 12^th and 13^th November 2015. Dr. Somy Kuriakose, Principal Scientist and Mr.

Manu V. K., Senior Technical Assistant, conducted the workshop at Mangalore Research Centre for Karnataka and Goa on 1^st and 2^nd December 2015. Dr. T. V.

Sathianadan, Principal Scientist and Mrs.

K. Ramani, Assistant Chief Technical Officer, trained supervisors for North Gujarat and U.T. of Diu on 18^th and 19^th November 2015 and Maharashtra, South Gujarat and U.T. of Daman on 20^th and 21^st November 2015 at Mumbai RC.

About 3000 enumerators trained by the institute will visit 11 lakh fishermen families spread across 4250 marine fishing villages located in 73 districts. Around 220 officials are posted at the 26 centres for effective supervision and co-ordination.

The schedules are designed to collect details pertaining to social, educational and fishing aspects of marine fishermen families besides information related to fish processing, handling, marketing and value addition. The information on

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11 Cadalmin : CMFRI Newsletter No. 147 infrastructure facilities in fishing villages and

other fish harvesting and processing facilities available in various coastal districts is also being collected. The schedules to be used for household survey have been translated into eight regional languages for ease of use. Apart from the schedules the personnel involved have been provided an instruction booklet to clarify various heads under which details are being collected. The data would later be analyzed by ICAR-CMFRI to develop a comprehensive census database to facilitate formulation of fisheries related plans and policies in the marine sector.

Online survey for developing stakeholders’ opinion on National Marine Fisheries Policy

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he high level committee entrusted with the formulation of National Marine Fisheries Policy recorded various opinions of stakeholders through a set of 84 main questions available in print (offline) and online on the websites of DAHDF and ICAR-CMFRI. The printed

questionnaire forms were posted to over 1000 fisheries organizations in the country. Wide publicity to the exercise was given in regional and national print media. Initially, 45 days' time (October 26 to December 10, 2015) was given for submission of forms, but based on popular

demand was extended by another 6 days.

Postal submissions continued even after this date and all respondses received until December 31^st were used in the analysis.

The online form had adequate cyber security to ensure protection against spam generation and hackers.

Workshop held at Vishakapatnam Regional Centre

Harvest of farmed lobsters from model sea-cage farm

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uticorin Research Centre initiated sea- net cage farming of lobsters and cobia through participatory mode with fisherfolks at Sippikulam, Thoothukudi during the month of September 2015.

The farming of lobsters was done in floating Galvanised Iron (GI) net-cage (7 m diameter & 3 m height). 550 baby lobsters with an average size of 60 g procured from nearby fish landing centres were stocked in the cage maintained by the fisher folk with technical guidance from ICAR-CMFRI. After three months, the lobsters attained about 225 g and the value of harvested lobster was about ` 1.8 lakhs.The harvest programme was conducted on 22^nd December 2015 in Sippikulam village,Thoothukudi. Dr. P. P.

Manojkumar, Scientist-in-Charge, Tuticorin Research Centre of ICAR- CMFRI welcomed the gathering. Mr.

Amal Xavier, Joint Director of Fisheries (Regional), Tuticorin flagged off the harvest program and appraised the fisher folk about the various state and central government schemes available for sea-

Joint Director, Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department handing over the lobster harvest to the fishermen cage farming. Mr. C. Kalidas, Scientist

briefed about the technical details of sea cage farming. Mr. M. Kumeresan, Lobster farming Entrepreneur, Mr. Gnanaraj, Lobster Sea-cage farmer and Mr. Rexon, Cobia Sea-cage farmer shared their seacage farming experiences at Sippikulam.

In the felicitation address Dr. C. S. Shine Kumar, Deputy Director, MPEDA told about subsidies available for construction of facilities for live and chilled export of

marine fishes from the village. Rev. Raja Rodrigo, Sippikulam and Mr. Issac Jayakumar, Assistant Director of Fisheries (Marine) also spoke on the occasion where leaders from Sippikulam Fishermen Co-operative Society, fish farmers and other fishermen were present. The first of its kind in this coastal village, the event will enthuse other fisher families to take up sea cage farming to improve their livelihoods.

(Reported by : Tuticorin RC)

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Expansion of the open sea cage farming under TSP in Gujarat

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or the fourth consecutive year, ICAR- CMFRI launched the seacage farm off Veraval under the Tribal Sup-Plan for the benefit of the Sidi tribals of Gujarat. The successful farming trials in the past three years have motivated them to launch the farm during the current year. Priorities for

the year will be to diversify the farming from lobsters only to integration with the seaweed and oysters. These farming trials in addition to providing livelihood to the tribals have also served as venues for the demonstration and capacity building of the interested cage farming entrepreneurs in

the region. The programme which is being run through a registered society of the tribals,Bharat Adimjuth Matsyodyog Mandali, Talala and benefits nearly 110 tribals members from 22 families.

(Reported by Veraval Regional Centre)

Progressive fishermen trained by ICAR-CMFRI initiate fish farming

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ith the able support of the youth from the Association of Kovalam Progressive Fishermen (AKPF) trained under the mariculture team from CMFRI, the fisher youth of KadalurChinnakuppam villages in Kancheepuram District of Tamil Nadu carried out cage culture of Asian sea bass fingerlings and juveniles of Parastromateus niger, Lutjanus spp. and Rachycentron canadum caught from marine nearshore waters. Small indigenously designed fixed cage nets were installed in the creeks and

backwaters adjoining the village. One cage harvested on November 13^th 2015 yielded 54 kg of sea bass (980 g average weight) along with other fishes like Pearlspot and carangids stocked. The sea bass and the mangrove jacks were sold live to a gaming resort for ` 500/- per kilogram from where they were shifted to fresh water conditions in less than two hours with no mortality. A total revenue of ` 33,000 was realised from the operation enthusing the fisher youth.

(Reported by Madras Research Centre)

National Workshop on "Effective Management of E- Resources in Research Libraries"

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ibrary & Documentation Centre of

CMFRI organized a 6 days National workshop on "Effective Management of E- Resources in Research Libraries" from

Dr. J. Letha, Vice-Chancellor, CUSAT inaugurating the Workshop

12^th - 17^th October 2015. Dr. J. Letha, Vice-Chancellor, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kochi inaugurated the Workshop. Dr. A.

Gopalakrishnan, Director presided over the function. Mrs. P. Geetha, Officer-in- charge, Library & Documentation Centre co-ordinated the workshop. A capacity building programme for library professionals, it provided necessary training to develop Institutional Repositories and created awareness in executing modern technologies for efficient management of E-Resources.

The valedictory function was held on 17^th October 2015.

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IMTA benefits Fishermen self-help groups

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he second demonstration of Integrated Multi Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) under NICRA by integrating the seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii with cage farming of cobia initiated at Munaikadu (Palk bay) from May 2015 has successfully

concluded. After two successive seaweed harvests on 17^th September and 5^th November 2015 the harvest of cage farmed cobia was carried out on 27^th November and 6^th December 2015. A total of 1,792 kg of cobia measuring 52

to 72 cm and each weighing 1.4 to 3.5 kg was harvested, getting a farm gate price of ` 270 per kg.

(Reported by Mandapam Regional Centre)

Cage culture adoption by traditional shrimp farmers in Ernakulam District

C

age culture in brackishwater bodies appears to be a rapidly expanding farming practice in Kerala, especially in Ernakulam district. The traditional shrimp farmers in the district are enthusiastic to utilize existing water resources which in most cases have only limited fish production, with the uncertainty in shrimp production due to disease outbreaks. Fish production in cages is considered as an alternative where open pond culture is not lucrative due to various reasons.

Nayarambalam in Vypeen Island with agriculture and fishing as the main sources of income for the people has vastareas of traditional Pokkalipaddy fields and fish ponds especially in the eastern and western areas of the village. Pizhala an island in the Kadamakkudy Grama Panchyath, Kochi

also has several Pokkali farms. The 4 m x 4m GI cages at both the places were fabricated by farmers at their respective places. At Pizhala, four cages and at one at

Nayarambalam stocked with sea bass, pearl spot and Tilapia are now operational.

ICAR-CMFRI is assisting with scientific inputs to the farmers.

Participatory Open sea cage culture in Kerala

A

6 m diameter GI cage has been installed in the open sea near Fort Kochi Beach road by ICAR-CMFRI for

Square GI cages being moored at Nayarambalam

Open sea cage launch off Fort Kochi farming of seabass and cobia,on

23.11.2015. Done in a participatory mode with the KLCA Unit of Immanuel

Church, Beach Road, the cage has been anchored two kilometers away from the shore at a depth of 6 m using two anchors of 75 kg each. About 1400 numbers of Asian seabass seeds are stocked in the cage and the group has agreed to do the daily maintenance of the cage and feeding of fishes. This is the second trial of open sea cage culture in Kochi area after an earlier demonstration in 2009 at Munambam.. Prior to cage installation, an awareness programme was organized for the fishermen in the area on 11.11.2015, with a participation of about 100 persons. Dr. Imelda Joseph, Dr. Shoji Joseph and Dr. Boby Ignatius Principal Scientists and Mr. K. M. Venugopalan, Technical Officer of MaricultureDivision took classes on cage culture to the group and screened videos of cage culture activities operated with support of ICAR- CMFRI at different locations in the country.

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Research Highlights

Island Biodiversity Surveys

U

nderwater surveys were done at Devgad Island, off Karwar, during September to December 2015 and coral diversity mapped. Patch reefs were found to occur on the rocky bottom surrounding the island. Soft corals dominated near shore areas at a depth of 5-12 meters. The island has dense vegetation including an endangered species of wild banana (Cliff Banana, Ensete superbum). Heavy sedimentation was evident in all sites surveyed which can be attributed to the relative position of the island towards the mouth of Kali estuary. Nevertheless, hard corals are observed to be coping with this stressful environment. Whip coral or Monkey tail (Juncella juncea) were found to be abundant on the northern side of the island at a depth of 6-9 meters. Hard corals were represented by seven genera including Porites, Favia, Coscinaraea,

Soft corals and Gorgonids at Devgad Island Turbinaria, Paracyathus, Cyphastrea and

Tubastrea. Rock oyster Saccostrea cucullata and seaweeds such as Sargassum sp. and Padina sp. were found to dominate in the intertidal and shallow regions upto 3 metres deep. Evidence of bacterial disease was noticed on soft

corals and gorgonids while bioerosion was observed in hard corals especially in Porites colonies. However, the ecosystem appears to be generally robust.

(Reported by Dr. P. Laxmilatha, Principal Investigator, MB/VAl/33, Marine Biodiversity Division)

Installation of power block in purse seiners causing social conflicts in Maharashtra

During the last decade, purse seine fishery has gained momentum in the state along with trawling targeting Mackerel and Oil sardine. In recent years, catch of purse seine fishery has been diversified with the landing of commercially important demersal fish resources like catfish, Black pomfrets and sciaenids like Ghol, Koth etc. Increased purse seine fishery with associated issues like bulk quantity of by-catch (60 - 65%) and fishing of juveniles caused social conflicts between traditional fishermen operating dol net, gill net and shore seine in nearshore waters. Considering the sustainability of the natural resources and growing social tensions between purse- seiners and traditional fishers, Government of Maharashtra had constituted a Purse seine Committee in the year 2011 to look into the matter.

Presently the purse-seine fleet in Maharashtra has 435 units. Traditionally, these nets were hauled onboard manually but recently a power block (or Boom) for hauling of the nets onboard have been instal. It is driven by hydraulic power generated by a separate engine (4 cylinder, 36 HP) and speed of power block and direction of pulling can be

regulated according to the requirements.

About 50 numbers of purse seiners operating from Sassoon Dock have installed power block which has facilitated reduction in duration required for hauling net onboard which in turn doubles number of hauls and fish catch. It has also facilitated reduction of man power employed onboard and 20 to 25 crew members involved in a purse seine fishing

Hydraulic power block fitted purse seiner at Sassoon Dock, Mumbai

operation earlier has now reduced to about 5 to 8 crew. These developments are causing conflicts between traditional fishers and purse seine operators as well as between crew members and boat owners.

(Reported by Albert Idu, I. S. Hotagi, Veerendra Veer Singh, Vaibhav D. Mhatre, Nilesh A. Pawar and Punam A. Khandagale, Mumbai Research Centre)

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Heavy landings of juvenile Threadfin

breams

J

uveniles of threadfin breams (Nemipterus randalli) in the length range of 50 - 100 mm were observed in landings of multiday trawlers at Munambam Fishing Harbour from November 2015 onwards. They constituted 75-80 % of the total threadfin breams landed. The estimated landing of juveniles was 113 tonnes in November, which continued in December also. The catch was auctioned at rate of ` 20 per kg at the landing centre and transported to Manguluru for processing into minced fish paste known as Surimi, an important item for export.

(Reported by: Demersal Fisheries Division)

Heavy landings of Pink whip ray

H

uge landings of pink whip ray Himantura fai caught in inboard hooks and line operated off Beypore was observed at Cochin Fisheries Harbour on

Pink whip ray landings

C

hennai witnessed incessant heavy rains and floods in November- December 2015 which caused widespread loss and damage. In the seven coastal districts of Tamil Nadu 68 fishing villages were “severely affected”

and 169 villages “moderately affected” by

the floods. Kanchipuram District had the highest number (23) of severely affected fishing villages followed by Cuddalore (12) The incessant heavy rains caused damages at the Kovalam Field Laboratory also. The roof of the sedimentation and reservoir tanks were

lost and salinity of the incoming seawater in the bore pipe dipped to very low levels affecting the broodstock, algal cultures and other live animals being held at the facility

(Reported by Madras Research Centre)

Unusual floods affect fishing villages in Tamil Nadu

22^nd December 2015. Around 18 tonnes of the ray landings were auctioned at

` 74 per kg.

Unusual bumper catch of the Black spotted croaker

H

eavy landings of Black spotted croaker (Protonibea diacanthus) locally known as 'Ghol/Kooral' were landed at Pamban-Therkuvadi landing centre by fish trawl (Meenmadi) with an OAL of 16 m fitted with 193 HP engine on 9^th December, 2015. The catch weighing around two tonnes comprised 47 females and 53 males with an average length and weight of 120 cm and 19 kg respectively. The catch was auctioned at the rate of ` 1460 per kg and transported

to Kerala, owing to the huge demand for its swim bladder used for making isinglass important in domestic as well as export market. The occurrence of large size croakers on the south east coast is extremely rare and has never been reported in such a huge quantity.

(Reported by Remya L., Surya S., M. Rajkumar, Dr. N. S. Jeena, Ramya Abhijith, A. Gandhi, K.

Shanmuganathan, R. Selvakumar, K. Thangavel, and Dr. A. K. Abdul Nazar, Mandapam Regional Centre)

Captive hatching of spiny lobster species

I

n the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve three major species of spiny lobsters viz., Panulirus homarus homarus, P. versicolor and P. ornatus occur and their live trade is an important economic activity of the region. To understand its larval dispersal and recruitment an attempt to induce captive spawning of wild berried females of Panulirus versicolor and P. homarus to assign molecular identity of the larva was made.

The brooders collected from live lobster holding centres during October and November 2015 were maintained in a 2 tonne FRP tank. They spawned after 1-2 weeks of egg incubation with an estimated 1.9 lakh and 3 lakh phyllosoma hatched out from a single brooder of P.

homarus and P. versicolor respectively.

The species wise identification of wild caught phyllosoma is very difficult and this work will be useful in generating a reference data for comparison.

(Reported by Jeena, N. S., Tinto Thomas, Abdul Nazar A. K & Ramamoorthy, N., Mandapam Regional Centre)

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Unusual presence of two operculums in Lambis lambis

D

uring the regular monitoring programme for gastropod resources on 24^th August 2015, a specimen of Lambis lambis (Linnaeus, 1758) measuring 195 mm and 325 g collected by divers from 5 m depth at a distance of 2 nautical miles off Kalavasal was found to have double operculum.

Aberrations have been reported in several instances however, observation of double operculum is a unique one and

first of its kind reported in gastropods. Lambis lambis with double operculum

Indigenous technique for bivalve storage practised

B

ivalves locally known as Tisare, Shivale, Tigari or Shimpale are commercially exploited from various creeks in Maharashtra. Kalbadevi creek in Ratnagiri district is a major bivalve collection centre. Clams are handpicked from the beds during low tide by local fishermen and usually the maximum collections are made on new moon and full moon days when they are fully exposed. Fishers collect about 80-100 kg per day depending upon availability. Local fishermen are of the opinion that such peak catches occurs every five to ten years and similar magnitude was last observed during 2010 - 11season. The collected

clams are stored in live condition by the

local fishermen employing a unique practice. Meshed polythene net bags each with 50-60 kg of collected clams are completely immersed in the creek itself.

These bags are mostly placed head to head in and tied with a centre rope and an indicator flag is fixed for easy location.

When the demand for bivalves increases in the local market they are removed and sold. About 100-200 collectors are involved in clam collection was a source of livelihood along Kalbadevi creek.

Hence, judicious exploitation and conservation of this clam resource is required to ensure sustainable fishery.

(Reported by: Mumbai RC of CMFRI) Clams collected and stored by local fishers

in Kalbadevi creek

Gonochorism confirmed for Lutjanus argentimaculatus along north-east coast of India

G

onochorism or the presence of separate male and female sexes in fishes, was confirmed for Lutjanus argentimaculatus collected from the wild, off Visakhapatnam. Specimens of

both male and female fish were found in the 55-60 cm category (just starting to mature) and in the larger sizes of 70- 75 cm (ready to spawn) category as well. This was also confirmed by

examining the histological preparations of testicular and ovarian samples collected from these specimens.

(Reported by : Visakhapatnam Regional Centre)

Ingestion of plastic by marine fishes

A

carangid fish Coryphaena equiselis landed at Tharuvaikulam by the murrelvala (a gill net targeting belonids) on 30^th November 2015 was found to contain a piece of plastic having a length of 10.5 cm and breadth of 6 cm right inside the stomach. The stomach was otherwise empty. The fish is normally carnivorous in nature, with the adults feeding on smaller fishes and squid.

(Reported by M. Sivadas, K. Suresh Kumar and

K. Kannan, Tuticorin R. C.) Part of the plastic piece seen through ruptured stomach wall The animal was

collected and deposited in marine museum of Tuticorin Research Centre.

(Reported by M. Kavitha, Dr. I. Jagadis, J.Padmanathan

& H. Sivanesh Tuticorin Research Centre)

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Unusual sightings of migratory seabirds

A

s very little information is available on seabirds of India, the institute initiated research to study seabird-fishery interactions with regular observations during cruises on-board FRV Silver Pompano. The migratory sea bird Pallas’s Gull or Great Black headed gull Larus ichthyaetus is the largest sea gull species in India. It generally visits, during winter months arriving along the Kerala coast by end of November/early December and leaving by April/May. Unusually on 16^th October 2015, six juvenile Pallas’s gulls were sighted off Kochi (10⁰N 03’E ; 76⁰ E).Masked Booby Sula dactylatra a sea

Masked Booby Pallas's gull

bird rarely found in Kerala was first reported from Kannur by the world renowned ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali in 1983. Earlier reports of its occurrence were during June to August while recently it has been observed off Kochi on 9.11.14 and 8.9.15, perhaps

indicating a shift in migration periods.

Atmospheric temperature during September 2015 ranged between 27- 29⁰ C while the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) was 28-29⁰ C.

(Reported by R. Jeyabaskaran, S. Lavanya, P.

Vysakhan, Seban Joh, Jishnu Mohan, D. Prema and V. Kripa, FEMD)

Training/Extension

Demonstration and hands-on training in Oyster farming

T

he Self Help Groups of Taramumbari, Vengurla and Devbagh areas in the Sindhudurg district were trained under the UNDP/GEF funded project

"Demonstration of bivalve farming at Sindhudurg District in the state of Maharashtra"as a means of popularising the oyster farming in the area. The successful farming and harvest of oysters in Wadatar, Sindhudurg District in June 2015 with the technical support of ICAR-CMFRI, has attracted many potential women Self Help Groups to this enterprise. A total of 200 members participated in the training in each area. Training was given through videos as well as hands-on training in ren making and rack construction for oyster farming involving all participants. The training was given by Dr. Vidya, Mr. P. S. Alloycious and Mr. K. M. Jestin Joy from Headquarters

(Reported by: Molluscan Fisheries Division) Trainees making rens for oyster farming

A

training programme on'Seed Production of Selected Marine Ornamental Fishes' was organized under Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust (GOMBRT) funded project at Mandapam Regional Centre during 28^th to

Practical session at the hatchery

30^th October 2015. Thirty seven fishermen from Olaikuda, Vadakadu, Thangachimadam, Mandapam, Vedalai and Pillaimadam villages participated in the training. The programme was inaugurated by Dr. T. S. Dange, I.F.S.,

Director, GOMBRT. Hands on training in broodstock development, breeding, larval and juvenile rearing of clown fishes, grow-out techniques, livefeed culture, enrichment of live feeds, water quality and disease management was given.

Practical session on fabrication of GI cages Visit of trainees to freshwater ornamental fish unit at Kadasanenthal, Madurai

Training on ornamental fish seed production

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Trainings on Open sea cage culture

z A training programme on Open sea cage farming was conducted 1^st to 7^th December 2015 by the Karwar RC for the officials of the department of Fisheries, Govt of Kerala.

z Training Programme on "Cage Culture" was conducted for the officials of State Fisheries Department, Kerala at the Mandapam Regional Centre from 5th to 11^th December, 2015. Field visits to sea cage farm, seaweed processing unit, Manamadurai, and marine and freshwater ornamental fish culture units were arranged for the benefit of trainees.

Industrial Work Experience Programme in cage farming

V

eraval Regional Centre is conducting the Industrial Works Experience programme for the students of Diploma in Fisheries of the Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra for the third consecutive year. For 4 months (from 17^thDecember

2015 to 30^th April 2016), the students Cage net fabrication by diploma students

D

elegates from Kenya and Liberia under the US-INDIA-AFRICA Triangular International Training Programme conducted by National Academy for Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) visited the Institute on 10^th August 2015. A one day training programme for the visitors was coordinated through by Agircultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC),

Director interacts with the visiting delegates from Africa

Interface Meeting at Veraval Regional Centre

A

n interface meeting of the development agencies and the research institutes of Gujarat state was organized by VRC of CMFRI, Veraval on 30^th November 2015 jointly with the Commissionerate of Fisheries, Govt., of Gujarat at the Veraval Centre of CMFRI.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. M.A.

Narmavala, IAS, Commissioner of Fisheries, Govt. of Gujarat and the Scientists and Developmental Officers of

the institutes like the ICAR-CMFRI, ICAR- Dignitaries in the Wet lab at Veraval Regional Centre CIFT, College of Fisheries, Veraval, Dept.

of Fisheries, Marine Products Development Agency (MPEDA), MPEDA-NETFISH and Export Inspection Agency (EIA). Representatives from the various institutions presented their activities and roles they play in the development of the marine fisheries sector in Gujarat. Later, the Fisheries Commissioner also visited the laboratories and sea cage farm sites of the centre.

Exhibitions

T

uticorin Research Centre of ICAR- CMFRI also took part in the exhibition organized by the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust (GOMBRT) on 13^th to 15^th October 2015 on the premises of Caldwell School, Thoothukudi. The primary objective of the exhibition was to create awareness among childrens about the marine ecosystem and fishery resources of Gulf of Mannar.The message of how to

Project Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) Cell and Mariculture Division where they participated in interactive discussions with

Scientists, visited laboratories and brackish water cage farm activities at Panambukadu, Kochi.

z Tuticorin Research Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute participated in the district level exhibition conducted by the TTTTTamil Development and Information Departmentamil Development and Information Departmentamil Development and Information Departmentamil Development and Information Department for the 4amil Development and Information Department ^th time in Thoothukudi during 26^th - 27^th September. 2015

preserve the marine ecosystem in a healthy and sustainable manner received good response from school children who visited the exhibition on all the days.

Ernakulam District collector Mr. M. G. Rajamanickam visiting ICAR-CMFRI stall during the Friends Fest-2015 exhibition held on 1^st and 2^nd December, 2015 at Kochi will be provided with a residential mode

training on sea cage farming with emphasis on to the engineering related aspects of cage designing and fabrication, mooring, cage installation, seed collection and transportation besides cage farm management.

(Reported by: Veraval Regional Centre)

One day training programme

for the delegates from Africa

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z The Kerala Fish Farmer's Capacity Building Meet - 2015 jointly organized by CMFRI, Kochi, Alumni association, College of Fisheries, Panagad and Kerala Aqua Farmers federation was held at ICAR-CMFRI on 17^th and 18^th of October 2015, coordinated by Dr. Shyam S. Salim, Dr. Vipinkumar V. P. and Dr. Grinson George.

Delegates/Visitors

World Bank Team at Mandapam Regional Centre

T

he World Bank Team held discussions with various Government organizations in Ramanathapuram at District Collectorate on 4^th November 2015 in connection with theTamil Nadu Pudhu Vaazhu Project being implemented at Ramanathapuram district since 2006.

The project will be renamed as Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project (TNRTP) from September 2016. The meeting was chaired by the District Collector. Dr. R. Jayakumar, Senior Scientist, Mandapam Regional Centre participated in the meeting and based on

the discussions, it was decided to select Ramanathapuram district to promote cage farming activities as an alternate livelihood option and an entrepreneurial development programme. Later, along with officers from the district administration, the World Bank Team visited Mandapam Regional Centre where various activities of the centre were explained. The team also visited the sea cage farms at Marakayarpattinam.

(Reported by Mandapam Regional Centre)

World Bank Team along with officers from the district administration at the cage

farming site.

Awards

IISF Science Film Award

T

he film on Oyster farming received IISF Science Film Award in the India International Science Film Festival 2015 held during 4-7 December, 2015 at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The film was produced by CMFRI using NAIP funds and can be viewed on Youtube.

( h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / watch?v=amUE_R2kFx8)

Karwar Research Centre initiates brackishwater cage farming of Asian seabass

U

nder the All India Network Project on Mariculture,cage farming of Asian seabass in identified brackishwater sites was initiated at Halga near Karwar. Each of the 6 GI cages with a dimension of 6 m x 4 m x 4 m. were stocked with 1500 juveniles of seabass and are being managed by fishermen SHG under the supervision of Karwar Research Centre.

z Dr. T. Prabhu Sankar, IAS, Asst. Secretary, DARE-ICAR visited ICAR-CMFRI, Kochi on 17^th October, 2015.

z As part of an Indian delegation visiting Norway, Dr. A.Gopalakrishnan, Director, ICAR - CMFRI participated in the meeting with Ms. Elisabeth Aspaker, Fisheries Minister, Trondheim, Norway on 19^th August, 2015.

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Formal launch by of the sea cage farming program at Thoothukudi by Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Director

World Food Day Celebrated

O

n the occasion of World Food Day on 16^th October, 2015, Tuticorin Research Centre of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute launched the sea cage farming unit for Cobia at Sippikulam Village, Thoothukudi. This is the first fisher group to start open sea-net cage grow-out culture of cobia in Thoothukudi district. Dr. A.

Gopalakrishnan, Director, presided over the function. A team of scientists from Tuticorin RC comprising Mr. C. Kalidas Mr.

L. Ranjith, Ms. M. Kavitha, Dr. I. Jagadis and Dr. P. P. Manojkumar had surveyed various sites from Manapad to Vembar in Thoothukudi Districts for cage culture and identified Sippikulam village The success of cage farming of marine fishes at

Mandapam and Rameshwaram had also motivated, fisher groups from Sippikulamvillage to approach Tuticorin Research Centre for technical guidance and support in sea cage farming.

Two specially fabricated GI net-cages were deployed in the selected sites at Sippikulam with 1500 numbers of cobia fingerlings having an average. weight of 15 g. Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, Director promised necessary technical support to all interested fisher groups in the region and mentioned that about 342 cages have been already installed by ICAR-CMFRI against a target of about 1000 cages by 2017. Shri. Isaac Jayakumar, Assistant Director, Fisheries (Marine), Govt. of Tamil

Nadu also spoke about the various financial aid schemes available for the sea cage farming of fin fishes and shellfishes.

On the occasion, hatchery reared juveniles of Sepioteuthis lessoniana and Sepia pharaonis packed in polythene bags containing aerated seawater were also handed over to fisher group of Sippikulam and Threspuram for sea ranching. The program was felicitated by Assistant Directors of Fisheries, Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu. The print media gave wide coverage for the programme. A booklet (English and Tamil) onTuticorin Research Centre of ICAR-CMFRI detailing research facilities available, technologies developed and future thrust areas of research was also released on the occassion.

T

he ICAR-CMFRI Journal Club, Kochi conducted a lecture on the subject "The Invisible, Illusive, Amazing, Mysterious and Incredible Nematodes". The lecture was given by the eminent Professor Mohamad Shamim Jairajpuri, former Director, Zoological Survey of India & Founding Director, Institute of Agriculture. More than 100 staff members participated in the program

z Dr. Sandhya Sukumaran received the Taylor and Francis Commonwealth Best Journal Article Prize from Dr.

Richard Middleton, Chief of Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and T&F representative in a function held at New Delhi on 19^th December, 2015.

z Mr. Suresh Kumar Mojjada, Senior Technical Officer, Veraval Regional Centre of CMFRI, was awarded Ph.D by the Mangalore University for his thesis entitled "Technological and Biological Innovations in Open Sea cage farming" under the research guidance of Dr. (Mrs.) Imelda Joseph, Principal Scientist ICAR-CMFRI, Kochi.

Vigilance Awareness week was observed at Madras R Vigilance Awareness week was observed at Madras R Vigilance Awareness week was observed at Madras R Vigilance Awareness week was observed at Madras R

Vigilance Awareness week was observed at Madras Research Centre, Chennai from 26esearch Centre, Chennai from 26esearch Centre, Chennai from 26esearch Centre, Chennai from 26esearch Centre, Chennai from 26^th^th^th^th^th - 31 - 31 - 31 - 31 - 31^st^stst^st^st October October October October October, 2015., 2015., 2015., 2015., 2015.

Release of booklet on Tuticorin RC

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M

umbai RC staff participated in National cleanliness campaign in office building and office premises at Versova on 4^th October 2016, and at the Visakhapatnam Regional centre from 25^th September 11^th October 2015. All the staff participated in cleaning activities as part of implementation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Cleanliness Drive was implemented during 25^th September to 11^th October 2015 at Mangalore Research Centre Campus and nearby places were cleaned including the Mangalore Fisheries Harbour. During16^th October to 1^st December, 2015 special cleanliness drive activities were also undertaken by Madras Research Centre and the Kovalam Field Centre, Chennai

on the campus and nearby places. Swachh Bharat implementation at Mumbai RC

Official Language Implementation

Hindi Workshop

z A One day Hindi workshop on 'Spoken Hindi' was conducted for the Officers and staff members at Headquarters on 11^th December, 2015. Shri. Ramesh Prabhu, Chief Official Language Translator, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Kochi conducted class.

z Hindi workshop on “Use of Administrative and Scientific words in Hindi” was held in 21^st December, 2015 at Chennai Research Centre and attended by 30 staff members.

Hindi Stenography Training Mrs. Dhanya M. B., and Mrs.

Zulekha M., (Stenographers Gr. III) attended 5 days Hindi Stenography training programme conducted by Hindi Teaching Scheme, Department of Official Language, Ministry Home Affairs, Govt. of India, at Kochi during 05^th-09^th October, 2015.

Participation in All India Hindi Seminars

Mrs. E.K. Uma, Assistant Chief Technical Officer (Hindi Translator) attended All India Hindi Seminar on the Subject 'Rajbhasha ke prayog evam protsahan' conducted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Directorate

of Knowledge Management in Agriculture on 07^th November, 2015 at NASC complex, New Delhi.

Mrs. Vandana V., Technical Assistant (Hindi Translator) attended All India Hindi Seminar at Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), Kochi.

Official Language awareness for College students: A group of students and teachers from St. Pauls College, Kalamassery were given a brief on the importance of Official Language in Central Government Offices, use of UNICODE, Hindi in research activities etc. on 19^th December, 2015.

Swachh Bharat

Weekly Campus Cleaning drive on Tuesdays at Mangalore RC Cleaning of Mangalore Fisheries Harbour

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W

orld Soil Day was celebrated by KVK on 5^th December, 2015 in a function held at Pallipuram Service Cooperative bank. Hon. MP Prof. K. V.

Thomas distributed Soil Health Cards to farmers. Nutrislurry was launched by MLA Mr. S. Sharma who also inaugurated the Mobile Sales Counter.

Folder on soil collection technique was released by Director of CMFRI Dr. A.

Gopalakrishnan, Director, ICAR-CMFRI.

Vice President Pallipuram Grama Panchayat, President Pallipuram Service Cooperative Bank, Assistant Director (Agriculture) Narakkal, Agriculture Officer, Pallipuram also attended the function. 250 farmers participated in the function.

World Soil Day celebrated

ATMA Technology Meet

K

VK participated in the ATMA technology meet held at Muvattupuzha on 10^th and 11^th

Distribution of Soil Health Cards

Inauguration of Mobile Sales Counter

Technical Backstopping for Fish Farmers Development Agency

(FFDA) Cage Aquaculture

Programme

K

VK provided technical backstopping for Cage Aquaculture Self Help Group partners of Ernakulam District. Dr.

P.A Vikas provided hands on training programme on 19^th December 2015 at FFDA Ernakulam.

December, 2015. Organic agriculture products of KVK were displayed and sold to public.

KVK (Ernakulam) News

Training programme on cage aquaculture Organic agriculture product on display